My grandfather was a Veteran of WW2, as was my husband’s. My husband himself is now a veteran of two wars, Iraq, and now Afghanistan. Even though I "live the life" it still amazes me the sacrifices these soldiers (and of course Sailors, Marines and Airmen) make every day to try and bring freedom to those that don’t have it, and to keep it for those that do. Leaving behind families, friends, and comfort for six months to a year. Putting themselves WILLINGLY in danger.

Just yesterday, we had a memorial for seven of our soldiers killed in action. Immediately after the ceremony, one of them who was here for (I believe) R&R, raised his right hand and took his oath again. Reenlisting. There are guys right now, in the thick of it, doing the same thing. So, remember to take a moment and give thanks. 

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.  ~Elmer Davis

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Another good way to deal with this deployment for me, is daydreaming. Looking forward to things to do when he gets home. Not only does it distract me, but it gives me something to look forward to and work for.  It hit me today in one of my daydreaming moments, that in the almost 17 years we have been married, not once have we taken a family vacation. In the first 9 years, we could barely afford to eat let alone take vacations. After he enlisted, we just never got around to it. Sure, he’s had leave twice per year, but we never did anything. Frankly we still couldn’t really afford it, but we never actually tried. We’d taken a couple trips back home to PA to visit family.  But that isn’t what I’m talking about.

I was looking through our photos from Summer 2008. We had gone out to the Ocean for a day that summer. The Seashore towns in WA are really great. The little shops, restaurants, activities, and of course the Ocean itself. That’s when it struck me. He’ll get some leave when he gets home from this deployment. It’ll be summer, the kids won’t have school to deal with. I think it would be a great time to take the kids, and the dogs, pack up the truck and escape for at least a week, maybe two to the WA coast. Walk the beaches, browse the shops, horseback rides along the shore, admire the view. Get away from the Army, the house, the traffic, the phone ringing for the kids, all of it. Just relax, and enjoy some time as a family.

For the first time in seventeen years.

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I’ve figured out how to have a maid around here. Simply channel my stress and tension into my house. In just two days I have washed and put away all of my laundry, cleaned out my closet, decluttered the bathroom cabinets, and scrubbed the entire thing including the floor by hand, scoured the kitchen counters and floor, and cleaned the miniblinds. All the while keeping up with the vacuuming and dusting. I id everything short of cleaning things with a toothbrush. I’ve decided the next time I feel anxious and stressed I’ll just clean stuff. At least it’s productive!

And ya know what? It felt good when I was done. like scrubbing the house scrubbed away some of my more negative feelings. Anyone that knows me knows I hate feeling negative. It does me no good, it does my kids no good, and it does Hubby no good. When he can get the time to talk to me, I need to be at my best. I need to be thinking positively, and upbeat. As I’ve mentioned before, that is very important for his well being over there. We have always fed off of each others moods. In fact, he posted about it back in 2006 during our extension, in a journal only him and I read and write in. Here’s the quote from his message back then.

This was from Aug 7, 2006, during his extended deployment in Iraq.

"The truth is I couldn’t do any of this without you. I don’t think I’ve ever realized that more than I have lately. FOUR DAYS bfore I was supposed to be on a plane home I’m told I gotta be here for a few months more. I was pissed off, depressed, and felt like I just got kicked in the gut about it. But seeing your attitude about it how could I stay down? Now I’m at the point where I say fuck it, lets go do what we came to do and go kick some teeth in and go home. I still see guys here walking around moping and feeling sorry for themselves. In my opinion, it’s because NONE of them have a wife that can pick them up like you do me. Every single soldier here should be jealous of the support I get from my wife. Because my wife don’t sit around the house feeling sorry for herself and sure as hell wont feel sorry for me. You remind me all the time why I joined the army in the first place so why should I feel sorry for myself now? I was down for a while but you picked me back up with all your possitive attitude. Now I can go where ever we end up and know in my heart no matter what happens I never let you down because you didn’t let me stay down. I don’t want you to worry too much when we do go either because I am determined to go do my job AND come home to you and our 2 little girls. If ANYTHING good comes out of this whole thing I just want you to know it’s all because of you and the love and support you give every single day.
I love you baby!"

I’m glad I went back and found that. Sometimes even I need a reminder that my attitude is contagious. And it just reinforces my desire to do whatever it takes to not let myself  give in when things get hard. If that means turning myself into some kind of Flylady Martha Stewart Betty Crocker Rachel Ray hybrid then so be it!  I truly believe that if you THINK negative you GET negative. And I don’t want that. Not for any of us. Thank you Hunny for inspiring me, I couldn’t do it without you.

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